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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chair · fan · pass · bark · swing · squash · net · degree

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. degree — an amount
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. net — for catching
  5. net — after costs
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. swing — music
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. chair — a leader
  10. pass — a permit
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. degree — temperature
  13. bark — to shout
  14. squash — to crush
  15. swing — in golf
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. degree — from a university
  20. squash — the sport
  21. swing — to play on
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. net — in sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com